Automatic Theorem Proving Prizes

The Fredkin Foundation established three prizes in Automatic Theorem Proving (ATP). In the mid-1980s the Foundation asked the AMS to appoint a formal ATP prize committee and to take over the administration of the awards. Since support for these prizes has been withdrawn, currently there are no plans to make future awards. Below is information on the Leibniz, Milestone, and Current prizes, and on past awardees.

The Leibniz Prize

The Leibniz Prize was to be awarded "for the proof of a 'substantial' theorem in which the computer played a major role." The prize criteria was described as follows:

"The quality of the results should not only make the paper a natural candidate for publication in one of the better mathematical journals, but a candidate for one of the established AMS prizes (e.g., Cole, Veblen) or even a Fields Medal. The proofs should not be less sophisticated than those of classical theorems when they first made their appearance--such as, for instance, the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra or one of the fixed point theorems (Brouwer, Leray-Schauder). Though obviously difficult to define precisely, the role of the computer program in the argument should not be mere auxiliary. Novel techniques, meaningful and original definitions, suggestions of interesting intermediate results, perspectives of wider application--any one of these contributions, and others that cannot be foreseen today, would meet the criteria."

The Milestone Prize

The Milestone Prize was awarded periodically "for foundational work in ATP." The AMS-appointed ATP prize committee made the following award: